Devanagari
यद् यस्य वानिषिद्धं स्याद्येन यत्र यतो नृप ।
स तेनेहेत कार्याणि नरो नान्यैरनापदि ॥ ६६ ॥
Verse text
yad yasya vāniṣiddhaṁ syād
yena yatra yato nṛpa
sa teneheta kāryāṇi
naro nānyair anāpadi
Synonyms
yat
—
whatever
;
yasya
—
of a man
;
vā
—
either
;
aniṣiddham
—
not forbidden
;
syāt
—
it is so
;
yena
—
by which means
;
yatra
—
in place and time
;
yataḥ
—
from which
;
nṛpa
—
O King
;
saḥ
—
such a person
;
tena
—
by such a process
;
īheta
—
should perform
;
kāryāṇi
—
prescribed activities
;
naraḥ
—
a person
;
na
—
not
;
anyaiḥ
—
by other ways
;
anāpadi
—
in the absence of danger .
Translation
In normal conditions, in the absence of danger, O King Yudhiṣṭhira, a man should perform his prescribed activities according to his status of life with the things, endeavors, process and living place that are not forbidden for him, and not by any other means.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King! In the absence of danger, a man should perform his prescribed activities according to his status of life with articles, means, place and cause that are not forbidden for him, and not by any other means.
The conduct of the āśramas is now summarized. Yat refers to items not forbidden. Yena refers to the method and yataḥ refers to the reason.
Purport
This instruction is given for men in all statuses of life. Generally society is divided into
brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras, brahmacārīs, vānaprasthas, sannyāsīs
and
gṛhasthas.
Everyone must act according to his position and try to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for that will make one’s life successful. This was instructed in Naimiṣāraṇya:
ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā
varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ
svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya
saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam
“O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve, by discharging his prescribed duties [
dharma
] according to caste divisions and order of life, is to please the Lord Hari.” (
Bhāg.
1.2.13
) Everyone should act according to his occupational duties just to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then everyone will be happy.